We work on the bacteriophage T4; we study the rII genes and gene 32, the DNA binding protein of T4. Our several objectives are: a) to understand the T4 rIIB promoter; b) to understand the function and biochemistry of the rIIA and rIIB proteins; c) to understand the rIIB translational initiation signals; d) to understand the site on the rIIB mRNA that is regulated by the T4 regA protein; e) to understand the mechanism by which gene 32 mRNA is regulated; f) to understnad the many functions of the gene 32 protein; g) to generalize information about translational initiation so that a coherent scheme for translational initiation emerges.